Chapter 5 - Marcus’s Price
Marcus arrived at Cedar Hollow in a black Range Rover and did not bother pretending he was there as Ethan’s brother.
He came as president of Mercer Equine Properties.
Two attorneys followed him.
Ethan met them outside the indoor arena.
“You brought lawyers to my house?”
Marcus looked at him.
“You called Dana Rhodes.”
“So?”
“So we’re past family conversations.”
Ethan almost laughed.
“We passed family conversation when you tried to sell Laura’s stables without telling me.”
“I told you.”
“You sent me a closing notice twelve days before the deal.”
“I sent you documents months ago.”
“You buried them in a restructuring packet.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“And you signed.”
There it was again.
The fact Ethan could not escape.
“I did.”
Marcus seemed surprised by the admission.
Ethan continued.
“That was my failure.”
“Good.”
“It doesn’t make fraud legal.”
Marcus gestured toward the arena.
“Do you know what Mercer Equine owes First Dominion Bank?”
“No.”
“Of course you don’t.”
The insult landed because it was true.
“Six point four million due in forty-five days.”
Ethan stared.
“That line was renewed.”
“Conditionally.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“You were told.”
“I’m on the board.”
“You stopped attending half the finance meetings after Laura died.”
Ethan’s anger weakened.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Cedar Hollow is the only unencumbered asset with enough value to solve the problem.”
“It may not belong to us.”
Marcus laughed.
“It belongs to you under Laura’s probate estate.”
“If the trust deed was valid, probate was wrong.”
“If. If. If.”
Marcus pointed toward the barn.
“Do you want eighty-four employees to lose their jobs because Laura recorded herself feeling suspicious four years ago?”
“Don’t use employees as a shield.”
“I’m not. I’m using arithmetic.”
“What happened to the money?”
“Expansion.”
“Where?”
“Colorado training center. Kentucky breeding partnership. Equipment financing.”
“Dana’s reviewing everything.”
Marcus’s eyes cooled.
“Dana is a probate lawyer.”
“I hired forensic accountants too.”
That landed.
Ethan saw it.
A tiny shift in his brother’s face.
Then it disappeared.
Marcus said, “You think I stole from the company?”
“I think I don’t know anything anymore.”
“For twenty years, I cleaned up every financial mess while you did sponsorship dinners and magazine interviews.”
“You loved control.”
“Someone had to.”
The words reminded Ethan of Laura.
Marcus says Mercer Equine cannot refinance unless the stable parcel remains available as collateral.
Marcus pulled a folder from his attorney.
He handed Ethan a copy.
“This is your authorization.”
Ethan read.
Two years earlier, he had approved Mercer Equine’s right to negotiate a sale of “noncore equestrian real estate associated with the Cedar Hollow operating group.”
His signature was real.
“What did you tell me this was?”
“A flexibility clause.”
“Did you tell me Laura’s stable parcel was included?”
“You never asked.”
Ethan looked at his brother.
“You’ve become very comfortable with people not reading.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“And you’ve become very comfortable pretending negligence makes you a victim.”
That hurt because Ethan had already begun thinking the same thing.
Marcus looked toward the main barn.
“Laura understood we needed the property.”
“She said no.”
“She said many things.”
“She made a recording.”
“She also made a trust she apparently never completed.”
“You knew Paul didn’t record it.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
Ethan saw it.
“You did.”
Marcus said, “The company was refinancing.”
“So you told Paul to wait.”
“I asked him not to create a title problem during underwriting.”
“That property was Laura’s.”
“And Mercer Equine had invested millions improving it.”
“Investment does not create ownership.”
Marcus gave a cold smile.
“You sound like Dana.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Do you want to know what no one is telling you?”
“What?”
“Laura was considering selling.”
Ethan stared.
“That’s a lie.”
Marcus took out his phone.
He showed an email from Laura.
TO: Marcus Mercer.
SUBJECT: Cedar Hollow Options.
I’ll consider a sale only if Owen’s trust is funded first and the staff is protected.
Ethan read it twice.
“She was negotiating.”
“She was being practical.”
“She still said Owen’s trust.”
Marcus shrugged.
“Everything has a price.”
“Owen doesn’t.”
Marcus’s eyes flicked toward the barn.
“Careful.”
“With what?”
“Turning a nine-year-old into a weapon against everyone who disagrees with you.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Bianca hit him.”
“I know.”
“And the first thing you asked me was not whether he was okay. It was whether I had the documents.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
“That isn’t fair.”
“No. It’s accurate.”
For a moment, the brothers simply stared.
Then Marcus said quietly, “Laura’s death was an accident.”
Ethan went still.
“I never said otherwise.”
“You’re starting to think it.”
Ethan hated that Marcus could read him.
“Police investigated. Insurance investigated. The trailer jackknifed on black ice.”
“I know.”
“Bianca did not kill Laura. I did not kill Laura.”
“I know.”
But Ethan realized he had needed to hear it.
Suspicion had begun contaminating memory.
Marcus stepped back.
“Do not turn every betrayal into murder because murder is easier to understand.”
He got into his Range Rover.
Before closing the door, he said:
“If you stop the sale, First Dominion calls the loan. When people start losing their jobs, remember that you had a choice.”
The vehicle disappeared down the drive.
Ethan stood alone.
His phone rang.
Dana.
“The bank approved access to Laura’s safe-deposit box.”
His chest tightened.
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Good.”
Dana hesitated.
“What?”
“Bianca’s lawyer filed an emergency motion.”
May you like
“For what?”
“To prevent you from opening it.”
